SBCV MISSIONS COMMITTEE MEETS

                                              Vol. IX, No. 1, January 1996

The Missions Committee of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia met 5 December in their first session following the annual meeting in Norfolk and began formulating new missions strategies for the SBCV that, if adopted, will see conservatives help start new churches in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Romania. In addition, the Committee approved granting $4,000 in scholarships for students preparing for the ministry during the Spring term of 1996.

Two subcommittees were elected by the Missions Committee to begin developing mission plans for the SBCV in Virginia, and in Romania. The first subcommittee will analyze demographic data, study growth trends, and recommend to the full Missions Committee a strategy for reaching Virginia through planting and nurturing new churches, and through the offer of assistance to existing churches in high growth areas or areas with little Baptist witness. This subcommittee will also study other means of reaching unchurched population groups.

The second subcommittee will focus on Romania, a nation with a strong Baptist presence and a central Baptist organization that has, on critical occasions, stood with conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention as they labored to counteract liberal trends in the SBC. Romanian Baptists, for instance, were almost alone among European Baptists in publicly siding with the Foreign Mission Board following its decision to eliminate funding for the Ruschlikon Seminary in Switzerland.

Should the second subcommittee's recommendations be adopted, conservatives in Virginia will have opportunities to help Romanian Baptists start new churches in the southern part of their country, an area with almost no evangelical witness. Contacts will be made with the Foreign Mission Board to ensure that any actions by the SBCV in Romania will be in harmony with the Board's own mission strategies for the area.

Individual Missions Committee members will also bring recommendations to future meetings concerning SBCV involvement in Pennsylvania. One team from Virginia traveled to Lancaster last summer to do evangelism in a new Baptist congregation in that city. Additional ministry possibilities under study include construction and student ministry projects in Pennsylvania.

The Missions Committee also reviewed twenty applications for scholarship help for students preparing for the ministry. Schools represented by the applications were Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, Richard Bland College, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Luther Rice Theological Seminary. Students requesting assistance were all from Virginia Baptist churches. A third subcommittee has been set up to deal with scholarship applications for the fall term of 1996.

The Missions Committee will have regular bimonthly meetings during 1996 beginning in January.